Dismantable shuttering in the form of a box

ABSTRACT

Dismantable shuttering in the form of a box for casting concrete comprising upright angle pieces joined to one another by three parallel cross pieces to which are fixed lattices clad with finishing plates, one of the lattices on each side of the box having reference sections, at the level of each cross piece, which are brought into contact with each of the cross pieces in order to ensure that all the cross pieces are at right angles to the angle pieces of which at least one includes a level to check its verticality.

United States Patent [191 Wiiliger Oct. 2, 1973 1 DISMIANTABLESHUTTERING IN THE FORM OF A BOX [76] Inventor: Achac Williger, 69, ruedu Faubourg Saint Antoine, Paris, France [22] Filed: Mar. 19, 1971 [21]Appl. No: 126,143

[52] U.S. C1 249/53, 249/27, 249/179, 249/180 {51] Int. Cl. E04g 11/02[58] Field of Search 249/13, 19, 18, 26, 249/27,175, 53, 178182, 186

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 853,956 5/1907 Blaw 1.249/182 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Australia 249/27 UX Canada249/27 France 249/180 Primary Examiner-J. Spencer Overholser AssistantExaminer-B. D. Tobor Attorneyl(enneth S. Goldfarb [57] ABSTRACTDismantable shuttering in the form ofa box for casting concretecomprising upright angle pieces joined to one another by three parallelcross pieces to which are fixed lattices clad with finishing plates, oneof the lattices on each side of the box having reference sections, atthe level of each cross piece, which are brought into contact with eachof the cross pieces in order to ensure that all the cross pieces are atright angles to the angle pieces of which at least one includes a levelto check its verticality.

3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED 2 I975 SHEET 1 [IF 3 c Q Q 9PATENTED BET 2 I975 SHEET 2 [1F 3 PATENTED 2W 3.162.676

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DISMANTABLE SHUTTERING IN THE FORM OF A BOX The invention relates to adismantable shuttering in the form of a box for casting concrete for theconstruction of buildings, and houses in particular.

The industrialization of the building trade has resulted in theappearance of increasingly sophisticated equipment on building sites andthe utilization of welltried methods for standardizing, rationalizingand automating construction.

According to one of these known procedures, a finished concrete part canbe made in one single casting by using dismantable shutterings in theform of a box whose shape is faithfully reproduced by the cast concretepart. These shutterings usually consist of a framework consisting ofangle pieces joined to one another by horizontal cross pieces to whichare fixed detachable lattices acting as supports for an exteriorcladding which can consist either of plywood or a proprietary plasterboard or other material, the finished face of this cladding obviouslybeing located against the lattices in a way such that when theshuttering is dismantled this face is on the inside of the part that hasbeen made.

The shutterings, with all their faces except their base clad in thismanner, are then placed on a concrete slab in a way such as to makechannels into which concrete is to be cast.

After the concrete has set, the shutterings are dismantled from insideand freed by openings provided for that purpose with a view to beingassembled again for the next floor. This continuous assembling anddismantling procedure naturally causes a considerable loss of time dueto the necessity of ensuring that all the walls are at right angles toone another, which is essential since the form of the mold is reproducedin the shape of the finished part.

Thus, for example, if the upright angle pieces are not at right anglesto the cross pieces, this will necessarily be shown by the walls of thefinished piece.

Hitherto such squaring has been obtained in a somewhat random fashion bymeans of braces crossing one another inside the shuttering, theappropriate adjust- I ments being made by a trial and error procedure.This not only leaves much to be desired as regards accuracy of thesquaring but also in regard to the time required for assembling theshuttering which considerably increases the end cost price of the partconcerned.

It is the object of this invention to overcome these disadvantages andto that end therefore relates to a shuttering in the form of a box forcasting concrete comprising upright angle pieces joined to one anotherby horizontal cross pieces to which lattices are fixed covering theentire shuttering, except the base, the box then being clad withfinishing plates fixed to the lattices. More particularly the inventionfurther relates to a shuttering in which at least one of the latticeshas reference sections fixed to it at right angles to its length, atdifferent levels, these sections being fixed to the inner wall of thelattice, under their respective cross pieces, with the exception of thelower section which is fixed above the corresponding cross piece, thislatter being attached to one of the extremities of the stretchingdevices, while the other opposite extremity of these stretching devicesis attached to the upright angle pieces of which at least one includes alevel for checking its verticality.

According to one means of applying the invention, the lattice is locatedvirtually in the center of the cross pieces of the box, the referencesections, in the form of angle plates and welded onto the inner wall ofthe lattice, at three different levels, corresponding respectively to alower cross piece, an intermediate cross piece and an upper cross piece,the lower cross piece including a welded lug to which the twoextremities of the two stretching devices are fixed, while each of theirother extremities are joined to a lug which is part of a stay platewelded inside the upright angle pieces and intended for joining these tothe cross pieces.

This concept therefore enables perfect squaring to be obtained betweenthe upright angle pieces and the cross pieces since, simply by actuatingthe diagonally/- oriented stretching devices which initiates an upwardmovement of the lower cross piece, which stops when a point under itsrespective cross piece is reached, and carrying with it the lattice,until the other reference sections are in intimate contact, over theirentire width, with their respective cross piece.

Another feature of the invention is that the stretching devices arebraces whose length can be reduced or increased by a desired amount bymeans of a set screw enclosed in a sleeve.

A shuttering according to the invention is illustrated but not limitedby the attached drawings in which FIG. 1 shows a plan view of one of thedismantable faces of the shuttering;

FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 show the cross sections along the lines AA, BB, CCrespectively to which reference is made in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of the measn of squaring theupright angle pieces in relation to the cross pieces.

FIG. 6 is a view of the reference lattice.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the stay plates of the upright angle pieces.

FIG. 8 is view of one of the vertical angle pieces.

One of the basic objects of the invention is to provide a system whichenables the upright angle pieces of the box and the cross pieces to besquared instantly, that is, without following any trial and errorprocedure.

The box according to the invention comprises essentially an uprightangle piece 1 having, as shown in FIG. 1, the general form of aright-angled bracket to which stay plates 2 with two sets of openings 3and 4 are welded, riveted or fixed by other means, at three differentlevels, for joining the upright angle pieces to the cross pieces 9,, 9and 9 These stay plates comprise, in addition, a circular opening 5 inwhich the guide tubes 6 engage to position the boxes. For this reasonthese tubes 6 project over the upper part of the box in a manner such asto make a hole in the cast concrete which enables the boxes to bepositioned correctly when casing the next floor.

These tubes 6 slide in the sleeves 7 welded to the intermediate stayplate 2. The sleeves 7 comprising locking screws enable the tube 6 to belocked at a desired height. The rings 8 are fixed on the upper part ofthe guide tubes 6 to allow the box to be transported with the help of acrane.

The upright angle pieces 1 are joied to one another by cross pieces ofwhich, in the example given, there are three: a lower cross piece 9,, anintermediate cross piece 9,, and an upper cross piece 9 These crosspieces 9,, 9 and 9 are made in the form of U-sections (FIGS. 2 and 4)and are fixed to the stay plates 2 which are part of upright anglepieces by means of securing bolts engaging, on one hand, in the holes 3and 4 of the stay plates and, on the other, in the additional holesprovided in the cross pieces.

The essential feature of the invention is the provision of a referencelattice located virtually in the median plane of the cross pieces, thislattice comprising three sections 11 11 11 welded in a plane at rightangles to its length and at three levels corresponding exactly to thoseof the three cross pieces.

The length of these sections 11,, 11 and 111 in the form of angle platesis equal to the width of the reference lattices 10. These sections arewelded to the inner wall of the lattice 10 in a way such that thesections 1 1,, 1 1 can come to rest under their respective cross pieces9 9 while the section 11,, although also located on the inner wall ofthe lattice, is welded, contrary to the two others, in such a way thatthe cross piece 9 comes to rest under this section, as shown in FIG. 4.

The cross piece 9, comprises, in which a lug 12 consisting of an Lsection to hich are welded or wedged the two extremities 13 and 13 ofthe braces 13, of which the other extremities 13 and 13 are fixed to thelugs 14, which are part of the stay plates 2 to which the intermediatecross pieces 9 are fixed. In this way the braces (FIG. 5) stretchdiagonally between the cross pieces 9,, 9 and thus control the length ofthese braces 13 by means, for example, of a screw tension rod, therebynecessarily initiating an upward movement of the median part of thelower cross piece 9, which thus butts against the entire width ofsection 1 l of the reference lattice over its entire width carrying thelatter with it in this upward movement, until the sections 11 11 alsomake contact, over their entire width, with their respective crosspieces 9 and 9 When the three sections 11,, 11 and lll are in intimatecontact over their entire width with their respective cross pieces, theuser is certain that the cross pieces are perfectly square in relationthe upright angle pieces.

It is evident that the necessary adjustment cannot be made until after acheck has made by means of a magnetic level 15 that at least one of theupright angle pieces 1 is perfectly vertical. 7

In addition, the shuttering comprises on the underside of its base,under the upright angle pieces, some individual screw jacks 16 whichenables any deviation from the horizontal on which the boxes arepositioned to be corrected.

Finally, the invention also comprises a rapid attaching device withlattices on the cross pieces, this device (FIG. 6) consisting of a lug18 fixed to the inner wall of the lattice, this lug comprising inaddition an opening 19 inclined toward the interior of the latticeincluding, in addition, a latch 20 secured by means of a chain 21.

The lattice is fitted to the cross pieces simply by engaging the latch20 in the opening 19 of the lug 18 in a way such that the latch iswedged against the inner wall of one of the wings 22 of the cross piececoncerned.

This invention therefore enables dismantled shutterings to bere-assembled in the shortest time, without relying on any trial anderror procedure, and with every confidence that the upright angle pieceswill be square in relation to the cross pieces.

It will be evident that the invention is not limited to the embodimentsdescribed and illustrated hereinabove and that other variants arepossible within the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. Dismantable shuttering in the form of a box for casting concretecomprising upright angle pieces, parallel cross pieces extending betweenand joining said angle pieces, lattices fixed to said cross pieces, saidbox being clad with finishing plates, at least one of said latticesincluding a reference section, at least one of said upright angle piecesbeing provided with a level to check its verticality, said one of saidlattices being located virtually in the center of said cross pieces,said reference sections being in the form of angle plates welded to theinner wall of said lattice at three different levels correspondingrespectively to a lower cross piece, an intermediate cross piece and anupper cross piece, the lower cross piece comprising a welded lug towhich extremities of braces are fixed, while the other extremities ofsaid braces are joined to lugs which are part of stay plates weldedinside the upright angle pieces and used to join them to said crosspieces.

2. Shuttering according to claim 1, in which the braces are locatedparallel to the walls of the shuttering and are oriented diagonally inrelation to the lower and intermediate cross pieces.

3. Shuttering according to claim 1, in which said upright angle piecescomprise individual screw jacks means for enabling the level of theplate on which the box is placed to be adjusted if there is anydeviation from the horizontal.

1. Dismantable shuttering in the form of a box for casting concretecomprising upright angle pieces, parallel cross pieces extending betweenand joining said angle pieces, lattices fixed to said cross pieces, saidbox being clad with finishing plates, at least one of said latticesincluding a reference section, at least one of said upright angle piecesbeing provided with a level to check its verticality, said one of saidlattices being located virtually in the center of said cross pieces,said reference sections being in the form of angle plates welded to theinner wall of said lattice at three different levels correspondingrespectively to a lower cross piece, an intermediate cross piece and anupper cross piece, the lower cross piece comprising a welded lug towhich extremities of braces are fixed, while the other extremities ofsaid braces are joined to lugs which are part of stay plates weldedinside the upright angle pieces and used to join them to said crosspieces.
 2. Shuttering according to claim 1, in which the braces arelocated parallel to the walls of the shuttering and are orienteddiagonally in relation to the lower and intermediate cross pieces. 3.Shuttering according to claim 1, in which said upright angle piecescomprise individual screw jacks means for enabling the level of theplate on which the box is placed to be adjusted if there is anydeviation from the horizontal.